Sunday, June 4, 2017

The Great War: June 4, 1917

The first national registration day for the draft during World War I took place on June 5, 1917. On the day before, one last appeal was made in the Hudson Evening Register for young men to avoid conscription by volunteering for Company F, the Hudson company of the National Guard.

Though strange as it may seem, there are many young men in Hudson between the ages of 21 and 31 years who won't have to register tomorrow for the selective military draft.

But, young man, don't be mislead by the foregoing paragraph. You can escape the draft and you can keep away from the polling places tomorrow, legally, too. But there is but one way of doing it lawfully, and that is by JOINING F COMPANY BY MIDNIGHT.

Enlisted members of the National Guard need not register. Therefore, all who get on the roll of Company F by midnight can avert a trip to their election districts tomorrow.

Company F will hold a big parade tonight, and in all probabilities two drum corps will be in line. This parade is done to inspire the young men of Hudson who have not signified their intention of enlisting. It is an eleventh hour demonstration to get recruits for the local unit of the Tenth regiment.

Thirty more recruits are wanted, and those who apply for admission to the ranks tonight will be examined, and will know before midnight whether or not it will be necessary to register.

Here is a fine chance, young men of Hudson, to show the patriotic material of which you are made.

To-day about a dozen Chatham young men signified their intention of joining the Hudson company. By midnight probably most of them, providing they pass the physical examination, will be on the "F" company roster, and THEY WON'T HAVE TO REGISTER.

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About The Gossips of Rivertown

This blog takes its name from the 1850 novel by Hudson author Alice B. Neal. The original Gossips of Rivertown cast a gimlet eye on Hudson society in the mid-19th century. More than a century and a half later, the new Gossips carries on the spirit of the original, but in a different genre and with a different focus.